


The Bet

by PalmettoFoxDen



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 15:59:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16747063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PalmettoFoxDen/pseuds/PalmettoFoxDen
Summary: The Foxes make a bet on whether Neil or Andrew will propose, or if neither will propose before they graduate.





	The Bet

The bet started at the beginning of Neil’s second year. Andrew found out about it thanks to Renee’s vigilance. “They’re making bets about you and Neil, you know,” Renee told him on one of their walks during a break in practice. Neil was sitting this one out, sorting out a new play idea with Kevin.

“I thought those already got settled last year,” Andrew deadpanned. “Or are you all making bets on our expiry date?”

“Not your expiry date,” Renee said. “Which one of you will propose to the other.”

He might have thought it was a joke if he hadn’t known that the Foxes would bet on just about anything. Once, on a particularly desperate and bored bus ride, they had made bets on everything down to what colour of shoelaces would be more prevalent on the other team. Kevin had won. He knew the Trojans well.

Andrew liked it better when he thought they were betting on when their relationship would end.

“That is a stupid bet when we are not getting married,” Andrew said.

“Aaron bet on neither of you,” Renee told him.

“Too bad the bet will never end for him to collect,” Andrew said. He didn’t really care either way if Aaron won or lost. He just wanted to pick holes in the bet.

“The bet runs out when Neil graduates,” Renee said. “Popular vote is Neil proposing.”

Andrew hated thinking that was a possibility. There wasn’t a number in the world that would cover the percentage Neil would be at if he dared to attempt a proposal. Andrew didn’t need them giving him any ideas, trying to subtly influence the bet. He hoped that Neil was smart enough not to do something so incredibly stupid and go and ruin what they had.

“What did you bet on?” Andrew asked.

He thought Renee had to know enough to bet against either of them proposing, but maybe she had enough of an outsider’s perspective that she had bet on Neil. After all, she had said Aaron’s bet like he was an outlier.

“You,” Renee said. “Someone had to.”

“Well then say goodbye to your money,” Andrew said. “This is one bet I’m not helping you win.”

* * *

When Neil’s third year began to approach, Andrew wondered what in the world he had done to give anyone the impression that he was the marrying type. The Foxes hadn’t pushed the matter too hard that first year after the bet. Maybe, they were afraid that Andrew would refuse to get married out of spite if they tried to hint that they should. Maybe, for some unthinkable reason, they had thought they were on the marriage track but hadn’t expected a proposal yet.

But then Matt and Dan got engaged and suddenly there was talk of who would get engaged next and the team began openly discussing the possibility in front of Andrew and Neil at the wedding.

“Who do you think will get engaged next?” Matt asked. “We should make bets.”

“Definitely me and Erik,” Nicky said. “We’re basically engaged already.”

“You can’t bet on yourself,” Allison argued. “Then you could just go propose to him tomorrow night to make sure you win the bet.”

She said it as though bumping up a proposal to win a bet was something that she would consider. Andrew was disgusted. Then again, Andrew had already been disgusted all night that he had let Neil drag him there.

“What if I wait for him to propose to me?” Nicky questioned.

“You could still rig it for him to propose earlier and make money,” Allison insisted.

Nicky scowled at her. They still didn’t get along. Some things never changed and Andrew found it comforting.

“Fine, then I bet on Kevin,” Nicky said.

“Me?” Kevin questioned. “Why me?”

He clearly did not look thrilled that Nicky saw fit to bring the idea up in front of Thea.

“Oh, come on,” Nicky said. “You’re going to graduate and see each other more and get straight person married and have straight person exy careers and retire and have straight people babies and a straight person life together. Don’t try to act like you don’t have your whole life plotted out with a specific timeline. I mean Aaron’s obviously proposing to Katelyn when they can have a place of their own, but you’re graduating first.”

Aaron glared at Nicky like it was supposed to be some secret that he was obviously and unfortunately going to propose to his cheerleader girlfriend. Andrew had hoped that the novelty of her would wear off after she was not forbidden any longer, but that was not how things had happened. Andrew did not want Aaron running off and marrying her and cutting him out of his life after graduation, so his strategy was to ignore the impending engagement and deny it was even a possibility. He wasn’t thrilled with Nicky bringing the idea up either.

“Who says it won’t be Andrew and Neil?” Kevin deflected. “If Neil can make Andrew come to this, he can make Andrew marry him.”

Andrew glared at Kevin and questioned his decision to protect Kevin Day at all costs.

“Over my dead body,” Andrew said.

Aaron looked at Kevin with a subtle smug look that he seemed to think Andrew could not see. Most of the team looked disappointed. Andrew knew it was not because they cared about anything more than money exchanging hands. He was glad that they were disappointed.

* * *

Halfway through Neil’s third year, during the holiday break, Nicky started to get impatient.

They were out shopping for Christmas presents and had split up in the store so that not everyone would see what the others were getting for them. Nicky had followed Andrew, although Andrew had not invited him down the aisle with him.

“Are you looking for something for Neil?” Nicky questioned.

Andrew didn’t answer. He didn’t need a gift for Neil. He’d picked one out months ago and was waiting until Christmas to bring it back out. Nicky didn’t need to know that and make a big deal out of it.

“You are getting him something, right?” Nicky asked.

Andrew continued down the aisle, holding a hand out and knocking cat toys off of the shelves as he went. Maybe, if he messed up the store enough, Nicky would get embarrassed and head off to shop somewhere else. Or, maybe, he would at least shop a little faster so they could leave sooner.

“Why don’t you get him a ring?” Nicky asked.

Andrew stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Nicky again and warned, “You are not suggesting what I think you are.”

“Why not?” Nicky asked. “You’ve been together for years. You’re practically inseparable. You _adopted cats together_. Obviously, you two are serious.”

“Cats are not serious,” Andrew said because he was irritated that they were. “They are Neil’s. I just let them live with me.”

That wasn’t entirely true, but that didn’t matter. Nicky would believe it before he would believe that Andrew had helped pick the cats out.

“Because you love Neil,” Nicky pointed out and Andrew’s skin crawled. “You want to be with him forever. Why is that so hard for you to admit?”

“You are projecting your desire for Erik to propose onto me,” Andrew accused.

Nicky looked hurt. Hopefully, Andrew had struck a nerve deep enough to get him to stop.

“Erik hasn’t proposed because it’s not a part of our plan,” Nicky said but something in his expression said he was worried about it anyway. “We figured it all out before I started at PSU. I’ll go back to Germany after graduation and we’ll get engaged and married and start the rest of our lives together. You and Neil don’t have a plan. Do you?”

Neil had plans. He was going to graduate and become a famous exy player and hand over just enough of his wages to Ichirou to survive. Dragging Andrew along for the ride was part of the plan Andrew had come to terms with a year and a half ago. Andrew didn’t tell Nicky that.

“Getting married may be your dream but it is not mine,” Andrew deadpanned. “I am not proposing to Neil. Give up.”

“Maybe it’s not your dream, but what if it’s his?” Nicky asked.

“Clearly, you do not know Neil,” Andrew said but a part of him wondered. There were a lot of things Neil had never thought that he’d wanted or considered before that he went on about wanting and having with Andrew now.

“I just want you two to be happy,” Nicky said.

Andrew was irritated that Nicky was pushing his buttons so hard just to try to win a bet, but then he realized that if Nicky wanted to win the bet he should have been bothering Neil, not him. Renee had made it sound as though Aaron was the only one that bet on no proposal and she was the only one that had bet on Andrew proposing. That meant Nicky must have bet on Neil proposing and he was bothering Andrew to propose regardless of whether it would lose him the bet.

Had he been bothering Neil about this just as hard before now? Had Neil refused to propose? Was that why Nicky was on his case?

Andrew was even more certain that he was not going to propose now. It would be bad enough to propose just for Neil’s benefit. It would be so much worse to propose when Neil did not even want him to.

Andrew turned away from Nicky and went back to knocking cat toys off of the shelf. Sir and King were just going to have to make do with what they had at home. Neil was probably buying them some sort of gift anyway. He spoiled them way too much. That’s why they were getting so heavy and Andrew could do without fattening them up any further so they could crush his internal organs even more when they jumped on him in the morning.

Nicky sighed and bent down to pick up the toy mice and balls off of the floor as Andrew slipped around the corner to get away from him.

* * *

Andrew didn’t let himself think too hard on life after graduation until Neil was in his fourth year and Andrew was in his last. Erik had proposed to Nicky last Christmas and Nicky was off to Germany to get married and live with Erik after graduation. Aaron had been looking at medical schools and apartments and hideous pugs far too often and it was obvious he had his own plans to go off with Katelyn after graduation. Kevin was already gone and engaged to Thea right on schedule as Nicky had predicted. Neil would still be at PSU next year and Andrew would be gone, signed to whichever team was closest to PSU and would have him.

Something in all that uncertainty and separation was getting to him. Andrew had grown used to seeing his family every day. He had grown accustomed to spending every day with Neil. Against every instinct in his body, he had grown comfortable at PSU. Even with Kevin gone, he was starting to settle in again. But next year would be completely different and Andrew would be on his own, away from Neil but playing this stupid sport while he waited for him.

“You should sign with the best team,” Neil suggested. “You are too good to waste your talent on just any team.”

“Your best team is a day’s drive from you,” Andrew countered. “I do not care about my talent or team and you know that.”

Neil grinned at the indirect implication that Andrew did care about him though. They were well past the point in their relationship where Andrew gave Neil a percent every time that he irritated him or got too mushy. Numbers could only go so high before any change lost all meaning and Neil had already made it long past that point.

“I could come watch you play more if you were closer,” Neil said, clearly warming up to the idea.

Neil didn’t suggest that Andrew come to watch his games and Andrew didn’t say that he did not care if Neil came to his. Neil knew that Andrew would not care about Neil’s games and would rather spend his visiting time with him away from the court. Andrew knew that Neil wanted to see his games for his own benefit and not for Andrew’s.

“And I could come visit you on weekends when you’re not on the road,” Neil said.

“We all know that you are not going to use the time to do your homework,” Andrew said.

Neil didn’t seem to mind the dig. It was true and they both would rather Neil spend his time studying Andrew than the subject of any of his courses.

While Neil talked about all the weekends they could spend together and potential plans for the holiday break, all the weekdays and nights that he would spend away from Neil and all the weekends he would be on the road and not able to spend time with Neil really started to sink in. Maybe, Neil had at least figured out how to use his phone with some regularity now, but Andrew wasn’t certain how he felt about spending so much time away from Neil and so much time relying so heavily on text and phone calls where it was more difficult to divert the conversation or shut Neil up with a kiss. There was a certain vulnerability that came with the idea of maintaining a long distance relationship that Andrew never would have even considered for someone else. Then again, Andrew wouldn’t have considered a real relationship for anyone else either.

Circumstances were overwhelming and Andrew needed time to think. He let Neil keep talking and stayed silent, trying not to dwell too much on the impending separation in what time he still had left with Neil.

* * *

Three days later, Andrew bought a ring. He had his doubts about using it and about when he would give it to Neil, but it was there.

It wasn’t so much the bet that had him second-guessing. He did not give a damn what the others thought about he and Neil’s relationship. He did not want to hear their reactions but he could live with it and ignore them if he chose to go through with it. Besides, at least if he went through with it, they would all lose, everyone but Renee who at least would not hold it over his head.

Neil was what really had Andrew second-guessing. They had never discussed marriage. Andrew had never thought that it was something that he would ever want. He had not thought that it was something that Neil needed either. Plus, for all Andrew knew, Nicky had been bugging Neil to propose and Neil had been refusing because he had no interest in getting married.

Andrew did not want to ruin what they had and rock the boat, but he also was afraid of what would happen if Neil did say yes. Already, Andrew had crossed a lot of boundaries with Neil that he had never thought he would adjust for anyone. Marriage was one of the last big ones that Andrew had left. Part of him felt that Neil had twisted and manipulated him into this, although Neil had not even mentioned the possibility of getting married around him.

Andrew hated everything about the idea of weddings. He hated the idea that anyone could guarantee forever. He hated public displays of affection. He hated the idea that someone else and some paper had the authority to say what they were and weren’t. He hated the idea of wasting money on some pretentious one day party where they would be on constant display. Andrew didn’t want their wedding to be anything like that if they even had one. But there was one aspect of weddings that Andrew did like.

Getting married was a promise. It would be the ultimate deal to face the unknown after his graduation together, even when they were apart. That was what made getting the ring worthwhile. That and the idea that, even with Andrew not around, he would be the first person called and able to see Neil the moment he got there if Neil got himself into any more trouble and wound up in the hospital.

Andrew did not have to decide now anyway. He tucked the ring box away in a bag in the back of his drawer where no one but Neil would have the nerve to look and where Neil wouldn’t look without Andrew’s permission anyway. It could live there for a few months before he would have to think about it again.

* * *

Two months later, Andrew almost gave Neil the ring. He had it in the pocket of his jacket and everything. He was going to hand it to Neil with his pack of cigarettes up on the roof and let him figure out what it meant on his own.

But then Neil was having an off night. They sat down together and Neil didn’t seem to think anything of the fact that Andrew hadn’t had cigarettes out and lit halfway through the door. He was clearly distracted.

“What are you thinking about?” Andrew asked as he thumbed at the velvet of the ring box in his pocket.

He was not about to do anything without figuring out what was on Neil’s mind that had him so off.

“There are only a few weeks left in the season,” Neil said. “And then everything is going to be different.”

“There is still summer,” Andrew said, closing his fingers around the box.

“Nicky will be gone already,” Neil said. “And then you’ll be off for pre-season training. Everyone is going to be gone. Everything is changing. I just want things to stay the same for a little longer.”

Andrew loosened his grip on the box but left his hand still in his pocket.

“I want it to be you and me up on this roof forever,” Neil continued. “As long as we stay up here, we don’t have to worry about the future. Neither of us is going anywhere. It’s just this. It’s just us.”

Andrew slipped his fingers from the box and pulled out his pack of cigarettes instead. Neil didn’t want change or a proposal right now. He wanted things to stay the same between them and that was exactly what Andrew was going to give him.

“What about your precious exy?” Andrew questioned as he lit up a couple cigarettes. “Won’t you have to go back down for it?”

“It can wait,” Neil said as he accepted one of the cigarettes from Andrew. “All I want right now is to stay with you.”

Andrew let Neil get away with that one and took a drag of his cigarette. Usually, Andrew had no desire to hear about Neil wanting him. This time, it was unnervingly reassuring. He’d let it slide. Just this once.

Neil looked at him puzzled out of the corner of his eye.

Maybe Andrew was having an off night too.

* * *

The next day, the ring box was still in Andrew’s jacket pocket. He hadn’t been alone away from Neil long enough to hide it.

It felt like it was burning a hole in his pocket. Andrew couldn’t stand the thought of it falling out of his pocket or someone noticing the shape of what was in his pocket and questioning it. He couldn’t stand the thought that Neil might accidentally touch it or might grab the wrong of their matching jackets and find a ring box where his phone should have been.

So, when they arrived at the court, Andrew sent Neil, Aaron, and Nicky in ahead of him. He waited until the door to the building had closed behind them before he pulled the box out of his pocket and stuck it in the back corner of the glovebox. It could wait there until Neil was ready to think about the future. For now, it was the last thing either of them needed Neil to worry about.

The Foxes had made it into the semi-finals and Neil was pushing himself to the limit, trying to make sure that they could reclaim their title. Neil already had that to worry about plus all the changes and separation that would leave him the last original Fox on the team. Plus, exams were coming up and those had become much more stressful to him since his first year at PSU now that he actually had to pass his courses to stay on the team. Neil wanted to keep things how they were and Andrew would for as long as Neil needed.

They didn’t need some stupid ring anyway. They had each other. They would figure the rest out when they got there.

* * *

Neil had been cracking down on not missing night practice a lot more since the Foxes had made it into the finals. Andrew did not find the practices particularly important and had already signed with a team no matter what the outcome was, but he still went and practiced with Neil regardless. He was glad that Kevin had no way of knowing that he was sticking to Kevin’s regimen and actually practicing at night, even without him there. Andrew shuddered at the thought of making Kevin Day proud.

One advantage of the drives to the night practices was that they were the only times Andrew had Neil alone in the car without Aaron and/or Nicky in the backseat. Andrew and Neil hadn’t talked about their futures again since that night up on the roof, but Andrew got the impression that Neil still did not want to talk about it. Exams were over now and all that was left was finishing off the season. Every night for the last week, Andrew had felt the weight of their impending separation in the car with them and had considered the box in his glovebox and how easy it would be to get Neil to just open up the glove box and see what had been sitting so close to him this whole time. It would be as easy as giving Neil the keys had been and he would have the safety of driving to ensure that he would not have to look Neil in the eyes after Neil found the ring. But Neil was still going along with his usual strategy of pretending everything was fine and ignoring whatever countdown he was living with. So Andrew left the glovebox closed and tried not to think too hard about the ring inside it.

Two could play at ignorance and denial was Andrew’s strong suit. Or, at least it had used to be before Neil Josten had crashed into his life.

* * *

One night, Neil went off routine. They were on the way to night practice like usual. Everything should have been predictable and fine, but then out of nowhere Neil pulled the glovebox open and Andrew had to make an effort not to whip his head around to tell if he had already seen too much.

Andrew’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. His tone was steady as he asked, “What are you looking for?”

“A charger,” Neil said. “My phone is nearly dead and I forgot mine in the dorm. I want to plug it in while we practice.”

In any other situation, Andrew would have been proud that he had gotten Neil to the point where he voluntarily charged his phone. Instead, all he felt was dread.

“I’ll get it,” Andrew said as he took one arm from the steering wheel and rummaged in the glovebox for Neil until he found his cord and yanked it out. It was just his luck that something fell out of the glovebox with it.

If Andrew had any luck in the world, it would have just been the manual to the car.

It wasn’t.

Andrew kept his eyes focused on the road and brought his other hand back to the steering wheel again.

Neil leaned forward in his seat like he was going to search for whatever had fallen.

“Leave it,” Andrew warned.

“I think it’s under my seat,” Neil said as he reached under the seat and Andrew willed him not to find it.

“I do not care,” Andrew said. “Leave it or I will slam on the brakes and you’ll be out of the final game with a concussion.”

But Andrew’s threats fell on deaf ears with Neil.

“You wouldn’t,” Neil said with an irritating certainty. “We both know you wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Keep your head up anyway,” Andrew said. “I do not control other cars and you cannot afford to lose any more brain cells.”

“Fine,” Neil said as he retracted his arm from under the seat and sat up straight again. “What was it anyway?”

“I do not know,” Andrew lied.

Neil gave him a funny look.

“It doesn’t matter,” Andrew corrected. “I’ll get it later.”

Neil accepted that answer and turned to look out his window. Andrew felt his shoulders relax slightly.

“Andrew,” Neil said after a moment. “Can we drive around for a little while first?”

Normally, the idea of putting off practice and driving around aimlessly would have been much more appealing. Now, the idea of staying in the car with the ring box somewhere loose on the floor felt like torture.

Andrew kept driving anyway and made a turn away from the court.

They drove in silence for a few minutes and Andrew was starting to worry that Neil had seen what it was after all and was trying to figure out how to broach the subject that he was not interested.

“Finals are on Friday,” Neil said.

“I know,” Andrew responded.

“You graduate next week,” Neil pointed out.

Oh. So it was that kind of conversation.

“I thought you didn’t want to think about that,” Andrew said.

“I don’t,” Neil admitted. “But we’re running out of time to pretend this isn’t happening.”

Andrew said nothing.

“And I know you hate talking or thinking about the future but I can’t ignore it anymore,” Neil continued. “You’re going to play close and I’m going to visit you sometimes but what about the rest?”

“The rest?”

Andrew glanced at Neil, then back at the road again. Andrew still did not know about the rest. He had been avoiding that conversation for himself and for Neil too. He hadn’t realized Neil had been avoiding it at least partly for his benefit too.

“You didn’t contribute anything to the conversation,” Neil said. “And I get that. I do. But I don’t know how I’m going to get a read on you next year when most of the time we’ll be texting or talking on the phone and I won’t be able to see you.”

Andrew wasn’t looking forward to that either.Things had grown comfortable with Neil understanding him without him having to outright say everything. Andrew wasn’t looking forward to adjusting to communication without that benefit either, even if Neil’s intuition did frustrate him to no end at times.

“I know you hate labels but I just need to know that we’re _something,”_ Neil said. _“_ We’re going to be apart and who knows if we’ll end up on different teams or not even after next year. I know it probably terrifies you but I want long distance to work. I want us to be something and have a future after this. I think we should at least talk about us before you move away. You don’t have to say anything now. Just think about it and we can talk about it later.”

Andrew looked away from the road at Neil. This conversation was a lot and Andrew was uncomfortable at the thought of talking openly with Neil about any of this. The idea felt too confessional. But then so did the ring somewhere on the floor of the car.

When Andrew looked back at the road, the light had turned red. There was a camera on this corner, so Andrew slammed on the brakes.

His adrenaline kicked into action as his back slammed into the back of his seat.

He sat in silence and waited for his heart rate to calm back down. Then Neil started leaning forward in his seat.

Andrew turned his head and watched in horror as Neil picked the ring box up from where it had slid between his feet when the car had stopped. Andrew quickly turned his attention back to the light, waiting for it to change to green again.

“Is this for me?” Neil asked with emotion in his tone that Andrew didn’t want to hear.

“No,” Andrew deadpanned. “It’s for the other man I own cats with and chose a team to stay close to.”

“How long have you had this?” Neil asked.

“Months.”

Andrew risked glancing over and saw Neil was running his fingers over the box. It was still closed. Neil turned and glanced at him in awe as if he sensed Andrew’s eyes on him so Andrew quickly looked back to the light again.

The sound the box made as Neil opened it felt deafening in the quiet of the car.

Andrew tightened his grip on the steering wheel again as he heard the hitch in Neil’s breath.

“Why have you had it so long?” Neil asked.

Andrew could feel Neil’s eyes on him.

“You didn’t want things to change,” Andrew said bluntly.

“This is a good change,” Neil insisted.

The light was green. Andrew didn’t drive. He looked at Neil instead.

“Is that a yes?” Andrew asked.

“It’s always yes with you,” Neil told him.

Andrew said nothing. When Neil was accepting his proposal wasn’t exactly the time to tell Neil not to talk about forever.

Neil took the ring out of the box and slid it onto his finger.

Andrew started driving again.

“You want a future with me too,” Neil said. “You want this to work.”

Andrew didn’t deny it. Neil didn’t believe his denial when they hadn’t just gotten engaged. There was no way he would be convinced now.

“This is something,” Neil insisted and Andrew hated him for having to point it out again.

“Are we going to the court now or what?” Andrew asked.

He still had no desire to attend practice, but he knew that Neil wouldn’t skip night practice this close to finals. The sooner they got practice over with, the sooner Andrew could get Neil alone on the roof.

“Yes,” Neil said.

When Andrew parked at the court and glanced over at Neil, Neil was still staring at the ring on his finger in awe.

* * *

The next morning, Nicky noticed the ring on Neil’s finger halfway to the car and stopped partway across the parking lot.

“Oh my god,” Nicky said. “Hold on. Andrew proposed? Like _proposed_ proposed? _Andrew?_ You two are engaged? This is so exciting! Oh my god I don’t even care that I lost fifty bucks.”

Andrew ignored him and got in the car.

Neil was grinning and Nicky kept going. Andrew could hear him from inside the car with all the doors closed.

“When are you getting married? I can’t wait!” Nicky insisted. “If you need any help planning the wedding I am so ready to help. I’ve already got a bunch of wedding planning stuff for my wedding anyway. How did Andrew propose?”

Nicky followed Neil into the car and leaned over the back of the seat as he insisted, “Let me see the ring up close.”

Aaron stood outside Andrew’s door instead of getting in his own and studied Andrew through the window for a moment. To Andrew’s surprised he looked more surprised than disappointed.

Andrew turned away from him and started the car. Aaron got in behind him without a word.

* * *

The entire team from Neil’s first year at PSU attended the final game against the Trojans. Neil talked to them before the game, but he had his gloves on so Andrew didn’t have to deal with their reaction until after the game.

This year, the final game was taking place at the Foxhole Court so the others were waiting in the Fox Lounge when they had gotten changed after their win.

Andrew ignored the congratulations on the game. He ignored Kevin going over the highlights with Neil. So did Nicky.

Kevin was still mid-sentence when Nicky insisted, “Forget the game, you’ve got to see Neil’s ring.”

“Neil’s ring?” Dan repeated as if her hearing did not work.

Neil held his hand out and the upperclassmen and Kevin crowded around to see.

Andrew expected there to be more questions like Nicky had when he had found out but, instead, there were about three seconds of rushed congratulations before the conversation turned to the bet. Nicky and Aaron were already handing their money over to Renee.

Matt groaned about losing the money, then assured Neil, “I’m super happy for you though. Just not for my wallet.”

“I can’t believe I lost a bet,” Allison said as she opened her purse to get Renee’s money.

One by one Kevin and the other upperclassmen each handed fifty dollars over to Renee.

Renee counted off her newly acquired three hundred dollars and handed one hundred fifty over to Andrew, although he had in no way proposed to Neil to win her the bet. He accepted the money anyway.

“I can’t believe Renee bribed Andrew into rigging the bet,” Nicky gaped.

The ring had cost far more than one hundred fifty dollars, but Andrew was perfectly fine letting them think whatever they wanted. That was easier than having to listen to their reactions to the fact that he had proposed to Neil just because he wanted to promise their futures to each other and not because of anything to do with a bet. None of this was about them anyway.


End file.
